This is a question that I asked myself for a long time. In the Marvel universe, mutants are outcasts. Being a mutant is a negative thing. But when it comes to other heroes that have superpowers but are NOT mutants such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, etc., no one sees them as negative. They are actually treated as heroes. Why is this? Why is it that Spider-Man (who has superhuman powers) is loved by the whole New York (except Jonah, of course) but the X-Men are hated for being mutants?

If a boy gets bit by a radioactive spider and gains spider-like abilites, everyone sees him as a hero. But if I am BORN with spider-like abilities, I am an outcast and I deserve to be locked up.

It really makes no sense to me. Being born with powers and gaining powers is almost the exact same thing.

So...why are heroes born with powers seen as outcasts in the marvel universe but heroes that gain powers are seen as heroes? I know mutants aren't outcasts as much right now in the current comics compared to how hated they were in the 60s/70s/80s in the Marvel universe, but still.

The average person doesn't worry about what will happen to them if they are bitten by a radioactive spider....but they do worry about what will happen if their child is born different from everyone else.

Okay I think I've come up with a BS answer. Since Spiderman is basically "made," it means that once he was once a mere mortals like us, and is more likely to have the same morals as we do. If someone is born a mutant with superpowers, it's scarier since they could have this superiority complex that they could use (with their superpowers) for evil.

Still doesn't explain why everyone likes Superman and is scared of Batman, though.

As mentioedn its bc of PR and media. Mutants are hated bc you have people in the media saying a whole bunch of negative things about them bc they have a platform to do so. People are ignorant and fear the unkown. Origin of power is really secondary. Look at Spiderman. He's been pretty hated and trashed in the past, mainly due to the negative press that J. Jonah has given him in the papers. It happens in real life. Look at how negative the press got towards arabs and muslims following 911. Alot of people associated that with an entire group even if it was a few individuals.

The Avengers have great PR. They are backed by the government and make sure their images is portrayed as good in the meida. Heck some of them, like Ms. Marvel even have their own publiscist. The X-men generally have not cared about that stuff. Mutant Avengers arent generally discriminated against. Beast gets it when he associares himself with the X-men, not so much with the Avengers

Mutants are monsters that are born the way they are. They're not even humans, and never were. Superheroes were normal people once, and they're making the most of a bad accident and using their powers to help people.

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Mutants are monsters that are born the way they are. They're not even humans, and never were. Superheroes were normal people once, and they're making the most of a bad accident and using their powers to help people.

Uh no, mutants are people too. Just a quirk in their genetic makeup making them different then others

I like the PR explanation. Is Charles had spent some of his money on some positive publicity, the X-Men would be loved by people other than the residents of San Francisco.

Then again, that's one of those stupid common sense things that make too much sense to use in a comic. Like the fact that Charles, Emma, and Warren could've tried using their billions of dollars to lobby Congress and slide some money under the table to get better treatment of mutants from the government. No way in hell a sentinel program would've passed if Professor X had spent more money bribing the right people.

Mutants are feared more than superheroes for the same reason gay men are more feared than lesbians.

Because bigotry doesn't make sense.

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The average person doesn't worry about what will happen to them if they are bitten by a radioactive spider....but they do worry about what will happen if their child is born different from everyone else.

These are great points made earlier in the thread. I would also like to add some other thoughts. First of all the amount of mutants compared to the superheros, also add to that, there is only one Spider-Man, only one Iron Man and so on, the reasons to their powers are quite unique in the Marvel Universe. While new mutants are probably born everyday, which adds to the fear that they could be anyone on the street cause most of them look normal. And for those who doesn't look normal, there is of course the freak thing that people fear and get put off/intimidated by.

And it's not like the mutant hate boils down to everyone hating every single mutant. It's probably more the concept of it all, and wanting it under control. Why some people can accept let's say Beast as an Avenger or as a politician and still be wary of the growing mutant influence in the world. It's not just black and white really.

And it's not like other different and powered beings in Marvel Universe haven't met their fair share of bigotry, misunderstanding and fear. And during the Days of Future Past story-line, in the future the Sentinels started to kill not only mutants but other superheroes too, because they saw them as similar threaths.

So often mutants gets to be the group that is easy to blame things on in debates and such. It's also the PR thing as others mentioned, to that also adds that Charles chooses to take in those that might need guidance or feel lost, they choose to be the outcast superhero-team. That way they can represent something else than let's say the more up-front and government controlled The Avengers.

In other words, the X-Men and mutants were created to be a metaphor for outcasts/being different and to highlight the bigotry and hate in our world.

I've often thought about this as well. I think the reasons mentioned above are all part of the reason mutants are so disliked. Unlike other Marvel heroes, they are a demographic, and that scares a lot of people. Many mutants, such as the X Men, are well organized groups that have a political agenda of sorts. It doesn't help that Magneto came out in the early days and promoted the mutant cause in a way that equated terrorism. Many people probably still believe that he holds the dominate view on human vs. mutant coexistance. And for all we know, it could be true. People in the Marvel universe tend to think that mutants will do what is best for them, while regular "superheroes" are there to protect humanity (since many of them were regular Joes themselves at one point).

I've often thought about this as well. I think the reasons mentioned above are all part of the reason mutants are so disliked. Unlike other Marvel heroes, they are a demographic, and that scares a lot of people. Many mutants, such as the X Men, are well organized groups that have a political agenda of sorts. It doesn't help that Magneto came out in the early days and promoted the mutant cause in a way that equated terrorism. Many people probably still believe that he holds the dominate view on human vs. mutant coexistance. And for all we know, it could be true. People in the Marvel universe tend to think that mutants will do what is best for them, while regular "superheroes" are there to protect humanity (since many of them were regular Joes themselves at one point).

The average person doesn't worry about what will happen to them if they are bitten by a radioactive spider....but they do worry about what will happen if their child is born different from everyone else.

I think this is definitely a big part of it. The average person might not disown their child for being gay, for example, but most parents want their children to grow up, get married, have children etc. (Generalisation, I know.) The issue of mutants is symbolic in that respect.

I think the other aspect to it is the threat of extermination. Mutants are presented as being the next step in evolution, or a new species entirely. The history of mankind shows we're not the best when it comes to sharing the planet, and I think if mutants did exist there would be plenty of folk worried they'd one day take over and enslave - or eradicate - homo sapiens.

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Originally Posted by Gianakin_

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